About the Combating Terrorism Exchange (CTX)

The Combating Terrorism Exchange is a quarterly peer-reviewed online journal whose contributors are the men and women at the frontlines of counterterrorism. We publish firsthand accounts and analysis written by special operations personnel, as well as discussions of policy, trends, and operations written by government officials, researchers, CT professionals, and investigative journalists on five continents. The mission of CTX is to foster camaraderie within the CT community by giving its members a forum in which to share their knowledge, experience, and stories with peers from around the world.

CTX was founded in 2011 by Dr. Michael Freeman, with executive editor Dr. Anna Simons, managing editor Julie McClennon, and designer and research associate Amelia Simunek. The inaugural issue appeared in August 2012. The journal was conceived as the flagship product of a new initiative called Global Education Community Collaboration Online (Global ECCO), whose purpose is to enable and encourage communication, partnership, and mutual support among CT professionals around the globe. Global ECCO is supported by the Combating Terrorism Fellowship Program.

CTX is an unusual publication in the military realm, featuring original articles written for practitioners, by practitioners. Most of its features are in the first person, recounted by the people who've "been there, done that." From the beginning, CTX has encouraged submissions that challenge conventional wisdom or offer new perspectives and insights.

CTX also offers an occasional special issue devoted to a single topic of particular relevance to the CT community. Topics in the past have included terrorism in the realm of cyberspace, evolving intelligence concerns and requirements in the global CT community, net assessment as a tool of irregular warfare, and the potential roles of NATO special operations forces in an era of hybrid operations and hybrid warfare.